Balancing the Equation: part 4, Field Notes
Title: Balancing the Equation: part 4, Field Notes
Author: jessofthebugs
Disclaimer: I beseech you, punish me not with your hard
thoughts; wherein I confess me much guilty, to deny
so fair and excellent ladies any thing. I shall do the world no injury for I have nothing in it.
Pairing: Chekov/Sulu
Rating: Teen, 15+
Warnings: References to sex
Type: Series, #4/20, sequel to Victor, Victor
Word count: 1998
Summary: The first day of the mission goes well. Posted to chekov_sulu
"Well, I guess this is it." Sulu pointed to the village a few hundred meters away and hefted his bag onto his shoulder, "What's the name of this place again?"
"Eh... It is called Delvwintown. Farming willage, population approximately three hundred." He recalled the stats with ease, figures and statistics, measured quantities that made the universe easier to deal with. This system's sun, not much different than Sol, was beginning to set, red against a purple and magenta sky. If he was in Obninsk, he'd say it was late fall by the brown grass and the way his breath hung in the air, "It is nice weather!"
Sulu had wrapped his scarf around his face so that only the top of his head was visible, "It's freezing! How can you stand it?"
"It is brisk, inwigorating, good for running." He cocked his head at Sulu, "You are cold, Hikaru?"
"Yeah. Which one's the common house? Maybe they have something warm to drink." He'd found a knitted hat and put it on and now only his brown eyes were visible.
Chekov laughed out loud, "You look like - forgif me - you look like a ninja, a wery cold ninja!" Sulu just rolled his eyes. "It feels like October." The stiffness of regimen started to fall away as they walked, but there was a little nervousness there as well. What if they were found out? What if they wouldn't let them in? The odds were good, previous field work suggested as much, but there was that small chance that it would all fall apart. The approached a round building in the middle of the little village where smoke floated up into the darkening sky. "Should we knock?"
"Uh...yeah, I guess so." Sulu raised a hand to the door and rapped lightly on it.
A girl, probably sixteen and blonde with too-green eyes answered, her hands on her hips, "Why did you do that for? Come in, strangers." They looked at each other and shrugged, thanking the girl as they walked over the threshold into a large hall that was half livingroom, half bar, half meeting hall. That was three halves, but it was a big hall. The girl held her hands out and waited, "Your coats?"
"Oh!" Sulu exclaimed, "Sure, thanks." Chekov shed his coat in a third the time it took for Sulu to remove his outer layer of clothing and she hung each item carefully on a peg on the wall with other coats and hats and scarves. "We need a place to stay for a while."
A broad-shouldered man, about thirty years old came over and kissed the blonde girl on the mouth, "Who're your friends, Lirra?"
"I never got their names." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "My name is Lirra, this is my husband Jal do Shan."
"Peace to your house, Jal. My name is Hikaru do Sato and this is my student Pavel do Andrei." They shook hands and smiled. The people seemed friendly enough so far.
"Peace to you, Hikaru and Pavel. Strange names." Chekov's heart jumped up into his throat, a moment of fear that everything would unravel like a mathmatical proof built on a mistaken assumption, "You from the South?"
"Yeah," Sulu answered. Chekov relaxed a little. The less they said, the better.
"You look cold, we've got some hot cider on." He walked next to his wife, his hand on her back and Chekov thought briefly on how nice it would be for Sulu to touch him like that in public. The man looked over his shoulder at them, "You can leave your things by the door."
Everything here was quieter, looser, as if all the equations were simpler, allowing for greater margins of error. Chekov grinned, thinking of Newtonian physics, calculations of the movements of bodies before humans knew space travel. He thought of his days as a little boy, looking up at the stars through his first telescope, learning the names of each one. Simple. People ate, drank, talked, laughed, and that's all there was to it.
"Does your student talk at all?" Jal asked Sulu.
"He's shy," Sulu replied.
"I am not shy," Chekov protested, "I am simply observwing. I like this place, Hikaru."
Their host laughed, "I like him. When I was your age, my student was very serious like him. I was the adventurous one. We were a good balance for each other, I think. I get the same feeling from you two - like you balance each other."
"My husband likes to think Orrin settled him down, but I know better." She took his elbow and leaned her head against his bicep before leaving to fetch their drinks.
Jal offered them a seat on an upholstered couch near the fireplace. He examined them, brow wrinkled in much the same way Dr. McCoy's did when he was concentrating on a problem, "How long has he been your student?"
"Um..." Sulu thought a little too long about it.
"Approximately sewenty-fife days." It had been about three months, but the days were longer here. He leaned in to whisper in Sulu's ear, "It was in the story the Captain gafe us. He conwerted how many days since the arboretum."
"Yeah?" Sulu said out loud. Chekov nodded, his curls bouncing.
Jal chuckled as his young wife brought four steaming mugs on a tray, "Here you boys go. I talked to Elle and she's got room at her place. You can stay there for as long as you need to. You should know we're harvesting tomorrow, but since you're guests, you're not expected to help. It would be appreciated, of course."
"Lirra," Jal chided, "they've had a long journey. We can't ask them-"
"No, it's alright," Sulu interrupted, "I look forward to it." He took a sip of his cider, "This is good, thank you."
"You're welcome. I'll get you something to eat, you must be starved." She left again after kissing her husband on the cheek. He smiled and watched her walk away and Chekov thought how she was like a little bird.
Another woman came over to where they sat, her hand extended to Sulu, "Hi, I'm Elle. You'll be staying at my house. Lirra tells me you're from the South and- Oh, my, you are a handsome young thing!" She was a curvaceous woman, not fat, as such, but filled out and plump like Babushka. "Your student's a cutie, too, but too skinny." She sounded like Babushka, too. "Which one of you is Hikaru and which one is Pavel?"
They both stood and Sulu took her hand, bowing respectfully, "Hikaru S- Um, do Sato, Ma'am. This is my student, Pavel do Andrei."
"Oh, but aren't you a polite one!" She twittered, "No reason to be so formal, Hikaru. It's a pleasure to meet you - and you too, Pavel! Oh, I just want to squeeze him! You're a lucky man, don't let this one go. He's definitely a keeper. You must be quite the fighter to keep such an attractive boy as your student!" She let go of Sulu's hand and took Chekov by the shoulders. Sulu turned up one corner of his mouth, "Let me get a look at you." She squeezed his arms and Pavel was sure he'd have bruises there later, "Yes, definitely. You're much too thin. Lirra!" She shuffled away toward the kitchen, "Extra helpings for Pavel!"
Jal laughed and Sulu blushed. "So, that's Elle. What can I say?"
"Is she always like that?" Sulu asked.
Jal nodded, "Yeah."
"She makes me think of Babushka- eh, my grandmother. Except... Hikaru, you have not met my grandmother. She would think you are too skinny." They drank cider and relaxed, chatting with the locals and eating a stew made from the focus of their study. It was a white root with a brown skin, not dissimilar from a potato, save for the veins of red and orange streaking through its meat. Chekov thought of his Babushka's cooking, potato soup and borscht, a hundred different things done with cabbage and roots, all of which warmed him from the inside.
The sky darkened and as unfamiliar stars twinkled overhead, their exuberant host led them to where they would be staying, "Harvest tomorrow, you know - busy, busy day! There's so much to do bring in the chirrit and then there's preserving it and the winter planting..." She went on about all the little preparations to be made and Sulu listened intently. "Well, here you are! This was my son's room. Don't you boys make too much noise, okay?" She winked at them and then set their things on a chair before shutting the door behind her.
Sulu sat down on the bed, bouncing a couple times to test its softness. "Not bad." He waggled his eyebrows, "What say we really test it out?"
"We should call the Captain first. He will worry." Chekov dug through his bag for his communicator, "Aha!"
"I hate waiting." He pouted and fell backwards onto the bed with a huff.
"You call. You are the superior officer." Sulu reached his hand up without looking and took the communicator.
He flipped open and it chirped, "Sulu to Enterprise."
"Kirk here. How's it going?"
"Locals are friendly, food's good, nobody's tried to kill us yet. All in all a success so far." Sulu summed up their evening fairly well in his few words.
"How's Chekov?"
"Good." Sulu put it very simply, but "good" was insufficient to modify how he felt.
Chekov waved as though he could be seen, "Hullo, Captain! It is wery nice here!"
Sulu laughed, "Chekov says hi."
"Alright, kids, next check-in is in one week exactly - that's ship time, so keep an eye on your chronometer."
"Aye, Sir." He snapped the communicator shut and handed it back to Chekov. "Hand me the PADD so I can write down what Elle said before I forget."
Chekov dug it out from the bottom of the bag and whined a little, "But I want to have sex now! It has been a long day and it is time for de-briefing."
"Oh, wow," Sulu pinched the bridge of his nose, "You really need to stop hanging around Scotty." He scribbled a few last things and handed the PADD to Chekov. "Did I forget anything?"
"You forgot the singing. She said something about singing." Chekov scrawled it down in a sloppy Cyrrilic print and set it on the bedside table. "There. Done. Sex now."
Sulu picked it up and looked it over, "I can't read thi- OOF! Pavel!"
He pinned Sulu to the bed and tossed the PADD aside, kissing and tugging at the loose tunic. He pulled it off, but there was another shirt underneath. Chekov scowled at the extra clothing, "Why do you wear so many clothes, Hikasha?" He pulled that off, too, only to find a t-shirt underneath, "Chyort voz'mi!"
"What does that mean, anyway?" Sulu laughed, almost giggling.
"Rude words, not to be said in front of Mama. You are like an onion with so many layers making me cry!" Sulu grabbed Chekov by the shoulders and rolled over. "Ack! Judo! No fair!" He giggled and closed his eyes as he was turned and twisted, his head hitting the soft mattress with a whump.
Their lovemaking was slow and quiet that night, an uncomplicated joining of bodies in the cold of the evening. When they finished, Chekov wrapped himself around his lover and listened. Instead of the constant hum of the ship vibrating around them, there was only the wind and a strange animal making low calls in the night. The change in sounds was a little unsettling, so he clung to the only things familiar to him on this strange planet, his 'Kashka and the feeling of crisp cold air on his skin, and he fell asleep.
Part 3: The Dominant Male
Part 5: Interloper
Author: jessofthebugs
Disclaimer: I beseech you, punish me not with your hard
thoughts; wherein I confess me much guilty, to deny
so fair and excellent ladies any thing. I shall do the world no injury for I have nothing in it.
Pairing: Chekov/Sulu
Rating: Teen, 15+
Warnings: References to sex
Type: Series, #4/20, sequel to Victor, Victor
Word count: 1998
Summary: The first day of the mission goes well. Posted to chekov_sulu
"Well, I guess this is it." Sulu pointed to the village a few hundred meters away and hefted his bag onto his shoulder, "What's the name of this place again?"
"Eh... It is called Delvwintown. Farming willage, population approximately three hundred." He recalled the stats with ease, figures and statistics, measured quantities that made the universe easier to deal with. This system's sun, not much different than Sol, was beginning to set, red against a purple and magenta sky. If he was in Obninsk, he'd say it was late fall by the brown grass and the way his breath hung in the air, "It is nice weather!"
Sulu had wrapped his scarf around his face so that only the top of his head was visible, "It's freezing! How can you stand it?"
"It is brisk, inwigorating, good for running." He cocked his head at Sulu, "You are cold, Hikaru?"
"Yeah. Which one's the common house? Maybe they have something warm to drink." He'd found a knitted hat and put it on and now only his brown eyes were visible.
Chekov laughed out loud, "You look like - forgif me - you look like a ninja, a wery cold ninja!" Sulu just rolled his eyes. "It feels like October." The stiffness of regimen started to fall away as they walked, but there was a little nervousness there as well. What if they were found out? What if they wouldn't let them in? The odds were good, previous field work suggested as much, but there was that small chance that it would all fall apart. The approached a round building in the middle of the little village where smoke floated up into the darkening sky. "Should we knock?"
"Uh...yeah, I guess so." Sulu raised a hand to the door and rapped lightly on it.
A girl, probably sixteen and blonde with too-green eyes answered, her hands on her hips, "Why did you do that for? Come in, strangers." They looked at each other and shrugged, thanking the girl as they walked over the threshold into a large hall that was half livingroom, half bar, half meeting hall. That was three halves, but it was a big hall. The girl held her hands out and waited, "Your coats?"
"Oh!" Sulu exclaimed, "Sure, thanks." Chekov shed his coat in a third the time it took for Sulu to remove his outer layer of clothing and she hung each item carefully on a peg on the wall with other coats and hats and scarves. "We need a place to stay for a while."
A broad-shouldered man, about thirty years old came over and kissed the blonde girl on the mouth, "Who're your friends, Lirra?"
"I never got their names." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "My name is Lirra, this is my husband Jal do Shan."
"Peace to your house, Jal. My name is Hikaru do Sato and this is my student Pavel do Andrei." They shook hands and smiled. The people seemed friendly enough so far.
"Peace to you, Hikaru and Pavel. Strange names." Chekov's heart jumped up into his throat, a moment of fear that everything would unravel like a mathmatical proof built on a mistaken assumption, "You from the South?"
"Yeah," Sulu answered. Chekov relaxed a little. The less they said, the better.
"You look cold, we've got some hot cider on." He walked next to his wife, his hand on her back and Chekov thought briefly on how nice it would be for Sulu to touch him like that in public. The man looked over his shoulder at them, "You can leave your things by the door."
Everything here was quieter, looser, as if all the equations were simpler, allowing for greater margins of error. Chekov grinned, thinking of Newtonian physics, calculations of the movements of bodies before humans knew space travel. He thought of his days as a little boy, looking up at the stars through his first telescope, learning the names of each one. Simple. People ate, drank, talked, laughed, and that's all there was to it.
"Does your student talk at all?" Jal asked Sulu.
"He's shy," Sulu replied.
"I am not shy," Chekov protested, "I am simply observwing. I like this place, Hikaru."
Their host laughed, "I like him. When I was your age, my student was very serious like him. I was the adventurous one. We were a good balance for each other, I think. I get the same feeling from you two - like you balance each other."
"My husband likes to think Orrin settled him down, but I know better." She took his elbow and leaned her head against his bicep before leaving to fetch their drinks.
Jal offered them a seat on an upholstered couch near the fireplace. He examined them, brow wrinkled in much the same way Dr. McCoy's did when he was concentrating on a problem, "How long has he been your student?"
"Um..." Sulu thought a little too long about it.
"Approximately sewenty-fife days." It had been about three months, but the days were longer here. He leaned in to whisper in Sulu's ear, "It was in the story the Captain gafe us. He conwerted how many days since the arboretum."
"Yeah?" Sulu said out loud. Chekov nodded, his curls bouncing.
Jal chuckled as his young wife brought four steaming mugs on a tray, "Here you boys go. I talked to Elle and she's got room at her place. You can stay there for as long as you need to. You should know we're harvesting tomorrow, but since you're guests, you're not expected to help. It would be appreciated, of course."
"Lirra," Jal chided, "they've had a long journey. We can't ask them-"
"No, it's alright," Sulu interrupted, "I look forward to it." He took a sip of his cider, "This is good, thank you."
"You're welcome. I'll get you something to eat, you must be starved." She left again after kissing her husband on the cheek. He smiled and watched her walk away and Chekov thought how she was like a little bird.
Another woman came over to where they sat, her hand extended to Sulu, "Hi, I'm Elle. You'll be staying at my house. Lirra tells me you're from the South and- Oh, my, you are a handsome young thing!" She was a curvaceous woman, not fat, as such, but filled out and plump like Babushka. "Your student's a cutie, too, but too skinny." She sounded like Babushka, too. "Which one of you is Hikaru and which one is Pavel?"
They both stood and Sulu took her hand, bowing respectfully, "Hikaru S- Um, do Sato, Ma'am. This is my student, Pavel do Andrei."
"Oh, but aren't you a polite one!" She twittered, "No reason to be so formal, Hikaru. It's a pleasure to meet you - and you too, Pavel! Oh, I just want to squeeze him! You're a lucky man, don't let this one go. He's definitely a keeper. You must be quite the fighter to keep such an attractive boy as your student!" She let go of Sulu's hand and took Chekov by the shoulders. Sulu turned up one corner of his mouth, "Let me get a look at you." She squeezed his arms and Pavel was sure he'd have bruises there later, "Yes, definitely. You're much too thin. Lirra!" She shuffled away toward the kitchen, "Extra helpings for Pavel!"
Jal laughed and Sulu blushed. "So, that's Elle. What can I say?"
"Is she always like that?" Sulu asked.
Jal nodded, "Yeah."
"She makes me think of Babushka- eh, my grandmother. Except... Hikaru, you have not met my grandmother. She would think you are too skinny." They drank cider and relaxed, chatting with the locals and eating a stew made from the focus of their study. It was a white root with a brown skin, not dissimilar from a potato, save for the veins of red and orange streaking through its meat. Chekov thought of his Babushka's cooking, potato soup and borscht, a hundred different things done with cabbage and roots, all of which warmed him from the inside.
The sky darkened and as unfamiliar stars twinkled overhead, their exuberant host led them to where they would be staying, "Harvest tomorrow, you know - busy, busy day! There's so much to do bring in the chirrit and then there's preserving it and the winter planting..." She went on about all the little preparations to be made and Sulu listened intently. "Well, here you are! This was my son's room. Don't you boys make too much noise, okay?" She winked at them and then set their things on a chair before shutting the door behind her.
Sulu sat down on the bed, bouncing a couple times to test its softness. "Not bad." He waggled his eyebrows, "What say we really test it out?"
"We should call the Captain first. He will worry." Chekov dug through his bag for his communicator, "Aha!"
"I hate waiting." He pouted and fell backwards onto the bed with a huff.
"You call. You are the superior officer." Sulu reached his hand up without looking and took the communicator.
He flipped open and it chirped, "Sulu to Enterprise."
"Kirk here. How's it going?"
"Locals are friendly, food's good, nobody's tried to kill us yet. All in all a success so far." Sulu summed up their evening fairly well in his few words.
"How's Chekov?"
"Good." Sulu put it very simply, but "good" was insufficient to modify how he felt.
Chekov waved as though he could be seen, "Hullo, Captain! It is wery nice here!"
Sulu laughed, "Chekov says hi."
"Alright, kids, next check-in is in one week exactly - that's ship time, so keep an eye on your chronometer."
"Aye, Sir." He snapped the communicator shut and handed it back to Chekov. "Hand me the PADD so I can write down what Elle said before I forget."
Chekov dug it out from the bottom of the bag and whined a little, "But I want to have sex now! It has been a long day and it is time for de-briefing."
"Oh, wow," Sulu pinched the bridge of his nose, "You really need to stop hanging around Scotty." He scribbled a few last things and handed the PADD to Chekov. "Did I forget anything?"
"You forgot the singing. She said something about singing." Chekov scrawled it down in a sloppy Cyrrilic print and set it on the bedside table. "There. Done. Sex now."
Sulu picked it up and looked it over, "I can't read thi- OOF! Pavel!"
He pinned Sulu to the bed and tossed the PADD aside, kissing and tugging at the loose tunic. He pulled it off, but there was another shirt underneath. Chekov scowled at the extra clothing, "Why do you wear so many clothes, Hikasha?" He pulled that off, too, only to find a t-shirt underneath, "Chyort voz'mi!"
"What does that mean, anyway?" Sulu laughed, almost giggling.
"Rude words, not to be said in front of Mama. You are like an onion with so many layers making me cry!" Sulu grabbed Chekov by the shoulders and rolled over. "Ack! Judo! No fair!" He giggled and closed his eyes as he was turned and twisted, his head hitting the soft mattress with a whump.
Their lovemaking was slow and quiet that night, an uncomplicated joining of bodies in the cold of the evening. When they finished, Chekov wrapped himself around his lover and listened. Instead of the constant hum of the ship vibrating around them, there was only the wind and a strange animal making low calls in the night. The change in sounds was a little unsettling, so he clung to the only things familiar to him on this strange planet, his 'Kashka and the feeling of crisp cold air on his skin, and he fell asleep.
Part 3: The Dominant Male
Part 5: Interloper